Reducing demand for overexploited wildlife products: Lessons from systematic reviews from outside conservation science

Abstract

Conservationists have long sought to reduce consumer demand for products from overexploited wildlife species. Health practitioners have also begun calling for reductions in the wildlife trade to reduce pandemic risk. Most wildlifefocused demand reduction campaigns have lacked rigorous evaluations and thus their impacts remain unknown. There is thus an urgent need to review the evidence from beyond conservation science to inform future demandreduction efforts. We searched for systematic reviews of interventions that aimed to reduce consumer demand for products that are harmful (e.g., cigarettes and illicit drugs). In total, 41 systematic reviews were assessed, and their data extracted. Mass-media campaigns and incentive programs were, on average, ineffective. While advertising bans, social marketing, and location bans were promising, there was insufficient robust evidence to draw firm

Applying a co‐design approach with key stakeholders to design interventions to reduce illegal wildlife consumption

“…Another key contribution of co‐design is that it can enrich existing solutions by generating incremental ideas (Trischler et al, 2019). In the TCM context for example, health‐risk communication is considered as information campaigns to reduce overconsumption of health remedies that contain wildlife ingredients (MacFarlane et al, 2022). In our workshops, all stakeholders highlighted the key role of health professionals (e.g.…”

“…For those existing solutions that were enriched by co‐design, it may be possible to gather evidence by reviewing the literature, even from other contexts, to assess its effectiveness before implementation. For example, in the health sector, highlighting health risks for reducing consumption has been shown to be effective, while educational approaches have shown mixed results (MacFarlane et al, 2022). Nevertheless, we suggest that intervention prototypes from co‐design should be carefully evaluated for their potential effectiveness.…”

Combating the exotic pet trade: Effects of conservation messaging on attitudes, demands, and civic intentions

“…To tackle the illegal or unsustainable trade, substantial efforts have been made globally, including trade restrictions through both national legislations and CITES, law enforcement, incentive programs, and demand reduction interventions including campaigns (Challender & MacMillan, 2014). In particular, there has been a growing literature on demand reduction, providing valuable insights into potential strategies to influencing consumer behaviors (Chaves et al, 2018; Doughty et al, 2021; MacFarlane et al, 2022; Moorhouse et al, 2021; Rizzolo, 2021; TRAFFIC & The Behavioural Insights Team, 2018; Veríssimo et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2020).…”

An audience segmentation approach to conservation messaging for transforming the exotic pet trade

“…Our interest in messaging is not because we believe it alone is a primary lever of system change, but rather because it is likely to be a necessary component of any interventions for system change, such as communication of proposed policies and political campaigns. There is a growing body of literature on demand reduction, offering valuable insights into effective strategies for influencing consumer choices and behaviors (Chaves et al, 2018;Doughty et al, 2021;MacFarlane et al, 2022;Moorhouse et al, 2021;TRAFFIC & The Behavioural Insights Team, 2018;Veríssimo et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020). While behavioral insights have been extensively used in messaging campaigns, interventions to address the wildlife trade have generally failed to reflect the diverse nature of their target consumers and overlooked the importance of audience segmentation (MacFarlane et al, 2022;Thomas-Walters et al, 2020;Veríssimo et al, 2020).…”

“…There is a growing body of literature on demand reduction, offering valuable insights into effective strategies for influencing consumer choices and behaviors (Chaves et al, 2018;Doughty et al, 2021;MacFarlane et al, 2022;Moorhouse et al, 2021;TRAFFIC & The Behavioural Insights Team, 2018;Veríssimo et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020). While behavioral insights have been extensively used in messaging campaigns, interventions to address the wildlife trade have generally failed to reflect the diverse nature of their target consumers and overlooked the importance of audience segmentation (MacFarlane et al, 2022;Thomas-Walters et al, 2020;Veríssimo et al, 2020). Thus, there is a need to improve how messages are designed and tailored to produce more robust impacts.…”